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How to reconcile two Excel reports and find differences

Quick answer

Upload both reports, choose the reference column and the amount column, and the tool matches records between them and flags anything missing, extra, or where the amount does not agree.

  1. 1Upload both reports.
  2. 2Choose the reference and amount columns.
  3. 3Review what is missing, extra, or mismatched.
  4. 4Download the reconciliation.
Reconcile two filesAll Data tools

Free, no sign-up, and your file is read on your own device rather than uploaded.

Reconciliation is a specific, recurring job: two systems - a bank statement and a ledger, an invoice list and a payments report, two exports of the same accounts - are each supposed to record the same set of transactions, and something needs checking. A transaction in one but not the other, or the same reference with two different amounts, is exactly what reconciliation is built to surface.

This matches records between two files on a reference (like an invoice number or transaction ID) and compares the amount on each side, then reports what is missing from either file and where a matched reference has a different amount - the two things that actually matter in a reconciliation.

Step by step

  1. Upload both reports

    The two files that are supposed to agree with each other.

    Check Two Systems Agree

  2. Choose the reference column

    Whatever identifies the same transaction in both files - an invoice number, order ID or transaction reference.

    Check Two Systems Agree

  3. Choose the amount column

    The value that should agree between the two, once the reference matches.

    Check Two Systems Agree

  4. Review and download

    References missing from either file, and references present in both with a different amount, both reported clearly.

    Check Two Systems Agree

Tips

  • If the reference numbers don't line up because of formatting - leading zeros, extra spaces - clean both files first, since reconciliation depends on the reference matching exactly, the same way a lookup does.
  • Check the missing-from-either-file group first - a transaction that exists in only one system is usually a more urgent finding than a small amount discrepancy.
  • For records that should match but are not spelled or formatted identically, consider Fuzzy Lookup first to establish the correspondence, then reconcile the amounts.

Common problems

A reference that clearly exists in both files is showing as missing from one.

Check for a formatting difference in the reference column - a leading zero, extra whitespace, or the reference stored as text in one file and a number in the other will all prevent an exact match.

The amounts are close but not exactly equal, and you are not sure if that counts as a mismatch.

The tool compares amounts exactly as given - if a small, expected variance (like a rounding difference) should not count as a mismatch, that judgement call needs to be made when reviewing the flagged results rather than the tool guessing at a tolerance.

Frequently asked questions

What does reconciliation actually check?
Whether the same reference appears in both files, and if so, whether the amount recorded against it agrees. It reports references missing from either side and references with mismatched amounts.
What's the difference between this and Compare Spreadsheets?
Comparison is general-purpose - any two versions of similar data. Reconciliation is specifically built around a reference-and-amount check, the shape most accounting and transaction reconciliation actually takes.
Can I reconcile more than two files at once?
This compares two files at a time - for more than two systems, reconcile them in pairs.
Are my reports uploaded to a server?
No. Reconciliation happens entirely in your browser, on your own device.

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